You know what, Fediverse? I care deeply about a lot of people and things but at the end of the day my wife (rarely pictured because she is shy) and these two goofy creatures are my whole world. Maybe it seems small and ridiculous, I don't care. I'm so lucky to share my world with them. Once upon a time I loved abandoned places the most but now I have them and that is more than enough. I feel endlessly fortunate about that.
Anyway, this is my overly verbose way of saying that while I enjoy posting photos of abandoned buildings, I'm not even trying to be cool, tbh I could post photos of my pets (and maybe if I'm allowed, my wife) all day and that would be fine by me. Not even great photos! Just ones that make me happy. I don't care. It is who I am.
And you know what? I feel like that's okay here, and that makes me happy. So extend my thanks to you also, Fediverse folks. That's a nice feeling. I appreciate it.
Honestly if my entire body of work is forgotten tomorrow but I do a good job being there for them, that's okay by me.
It's a weird thing, how priorities shift over time. How one day a wife and a hound & a feisty ginger cat are your best friends and you'd throw the rest of your life in the garbage if that made them secure. And, more importantly, how that wouldn't even seem like a bad trade if it came to it, because they bring so much in return. I'm glad I have them to love. I am grateful for it
@Gargron@waltbaldwin unfortunately when I use the back button in the app it still reloads my notifications and resets to the top of the feed.
By the way, while we're talking, thank you for your hard work. I would hate to be complainy about these issues without mentioning that I realize that you've put a lot of time and effort into Mastodon and I think what you've achieved with it is pretty astonishing. I am sure the amount of bugs you've squashed is far beyond my comprehension.
Judge me if you want, but I created a Threads account - mostly to prevent impersonation, but also a bit out of curiosity.
Millions of users or not, it is at least at the moment a pretty lousy alternative to the Fediverse. Aside from my hatred of Meta, the feed is utter trash with no way to manage it, I can't even set a profile photo, and replies inexplicably don't show up. These are really basic design and usability issues that, if not addressed, will tank longer term user numbers
I really do hate that my notifications tab on the app resets to the top if I look at a comment though, that makes it incredibly difficult to keep track of what I have replied to and what I have not. That keyboard lag makes it nearly impossible to use Mastodon on a desktop. Those are absolutely huge usability issues for me, between the two it is almost impossible to even reply to stuff any more
The Mastodon experience has its own major issues - being forced back to the top of my replies every time I comment on one is such a headache, the fact that on a desktop there's an almost comically bad keyboard lag (at least, for me), finding accounts to follow could be a lot easier, we need more content creators, etc.
But the lack of a dictatorial algorithm helps a lot. I'm hoping that long after Threads comes and goes the Fediverse will remain.
I do think it's worthwhile to see the areas Threads has improved on the Fediverse but it's the same old stuff people always complain about - search functionality, QRTs, onboarding, difficulty finding content/friends if you're a new user.
Having said that, Threads also reinforces the frequent argument that the Fediverse doesn't have to be The Mainstream Platform to be successful. It reminds me of Twitter currently - no substance or depth, just hucksters. In other words, about what I expected.
Users complain about not seeing the people they follow on other Meta platforms but somehow it's worse on Threads - like, the feed is literally just a bunch of random influencers hollering substance-free Instagram platitudes. Idk, maybe that will work for some people but if all you're seeing is randos you're going to get bored really quickly. I think a lot of people signed up out of FOMO/curiosity and are going to stop using it if they can't manage their feed at all.
@chargrille@Hey_Beth can vouch for that, I had huge issues with it too. There were people I followed I just never saw. God knows why. They were still posting and I interacted with them a good amount and then they just vanished
There are many things to like about the Fediverse but the overabundance of people who take every opportunity to assume you don't understand simple or obvious concepts so they can explain them to you like you're four - particularly when you're clearly joking about something - is not one of them
Look, there's a lot of anger and dissent in the Fediverse about the launch of Threads, but can we all at least agree that it is going to be utterly hilarious to watch Musk pretending he's not not crying as the last shreds of the platform he paid billions of dollars for go swirling down the toilet
After spending the last few years working really hard to beef up longer format histories of abandoned locations on my website I am seriously considering pulling all but, say, three paragraphs of each and putting the rest on Patreon for subs because of how disgusted I am that the work I've done will be used in Google's AI training and search results without my consent. It is a very frustrating situation to be placed in.
You can always tell when prolonged exposure to social media has critically damaged a portion of someone's soul by the fact that when they make any statement online there is also an addendum addressing what they know the inevitable misreading or crappy response to that statement will be
"I really like waffles. But if you don't that's fine! And also pancakes are good too - l, look, just JFC let me enjoy waffles, okay, what is morally wrong with that - wait, you know what, don't even tell me, I'm so sorry I asked, please forget I said anything and that I even exist. I'm so sorry. I don't even know why but I'm sorry. Fuck waffles. Or not. I don't even know any more."
- Anyone who gets a moderate amount of interaction with their posts online
I'm Matthew Christopher, creator of the Abandoned America website, podcast, and book series about the beautiful and fascinating ruins in our midst. Photos are mine unless credited otherwise. Not a photo bot, so I post about other things from time to time.